The Loveliest of Fairywrens

September 2018

I have recently returned from a whirlwind trip up the Daintree and Far North Queensland. It was only my second trip to this region, so I still had a number of species to track down and hopefully add to my list. Despite the twitching and chasing, the really satisfying part of the trip was the adventure of being back in this part of the world. Some of these species I had only ever seen once or twice, so it was really enjoyable to reconnect! But more on that in another post...

First up was the Lovely Fairywren, a species I had unfortunately dipped out on despite numerous attempts on my previous visit. As I mention in my previous blog post (Guide To Far North Queensland), a quick cross check of eBird and the relevant 'finding birds' literature shows that they are most regularly recorded at Rifle Creek at Mount Molloy, the Cairns Botanic Gardens and the Daintree Village. I had tried all these spots in the past and missed, but hopefully on this trip, that would not be the case!

I was travelling with my dad who is not a birder but has an appreciation for all things outdoorsy. He told me on the plane that he'd never actually seen a wild crocodile (or perhaps more accurately, he explained the only crocodile he'd ever seen was in the zoo). So the Daintree seemed like a great spot to start as it would potentially achieve both the fairywren and crocodile targets.

Metallic Starling

Saltwater Crocodile

Just under two hours of travel time from Cairns and we pulled into the sleepy little township of the Daintree Village. Directly above us was a huge swarm of Metallic Starling who were constructing nests and very much establishing a summer colony. It was a pretty amazing sight, particularly this close! I got to take some amazing photos and really appreciate the gorgeous iridescence and cherry-red eye.

But before the starlings, we wasted no time in heading down to the river. Within a few seconds we spotted a VERY large adult Saltwater Crocodile cruising down the river, barely fifty metres away! It was a great way to start the morning, here was Australia's largest predator (actually that's probably a Great White Shark)! But what a beast it was! Other birds on the river included a big flock of Australian Swiftlet, the occasional flock of Torresian Imperial Pigeon, Eastern Cattle Egret, Little Pied Cormorant, Dusky Honeyeater, Black-faced Cuckooshrike and a magnificent White-bellied Sea eagle.

We hadn't had breakfast yet, so we made a quick beeline to a little cafe where we had a smoothie and croissant each. Here we had Rainbow Lorikeet, Australasian Figbird, Bar-shouldered Dove, Yellow Oriole, Olive-breasted Sunbird, White-breasted Woodswallow and more Dusky Honeyeater.

Lovely Fairywren

Black-necked Stork

With breakfast out of the way, we left the car and wandered up the famous Stewart Creek Road, the alleged 'hotspot' for Lovely Fairywren. On past visits, I had wandered up and down this road half a dozen times, so I wasn't overly hopeful. On my past walks, I had however discovered it to be a great spot for species such as Orange-footed Scrubfowl, Double-eyed Fig Parrot, Wompoo Fruit Dove, Graceful Honeyeater, Yellow-spotted Honeyeater, Macleay's Honeyeater, Black Butcherbird, Little Shrikethrush and Spectacled Monarch. When the trail eventually opens up the field, you can expect to find species such as Little Bronze Cuckoo, Intermediate Egret, Forest Kingfisher, Helmeted Friarbird, Spangled Drongo, and sometimes even Pheasant Coucal.

As if out of a movie, we had barely turned the first corner when shockingly a Lovely Fairywren started to sing with all its might from the left side of the road. We turned, and boom! There was a brilliant adult male in full breeding plumage, sitting right out in the open! Finally, the Lovely Fairywren was done and dusted! On the way out we saw a Black-necked Stork fly across the road, which of course, was the icing on the cake to a great morning in Far North Queensland. ​Over the remaining few days we ended up seeing the Lovely Fairywren at another bunch of sites (of course, now that we've seen it), including Yorkey's Knob Beach, Cattana Wetlands and Rifle Creek. Thanks for reading!

James Mustafa is a birder, wildlife enthusiast and self-confessed twitcher from Melbourne, Australia. A musician and composer by trade, he has been birding, exploring nature and appreciate wildlife for all his life. Since taking up a real fascination with birds, he has soared with tropicbirds in the Indian Ocean, chased owls in North America, danced with kiwi in New Zealand and twitched everything from gulls to leaf warblers across Australia.